midnight
by jeepsarmitage
Summary: "i was studying at 3 in the morning and accidentally locked myself out of my apartment and you have a job with weird hours so you walked by to see me sitting by my door crying in my pajamas help me i'm a wreck" au


_"_ _Dammit, Aubrey!"_

Beca frowns, pausing on the stairs and turning in the direction of the voice. Her frown only deepens when she see's a woman shuffling in front of a closed door, phone in one hand while the other continues to bang on the door.

"Dammit, Aubrey! Wake up and let me in!"

"Are…are you alright?"

The woman turns and Beca has to grab hold of the handrail to stop herself from slipping down the stairs because _holy shit_ this woman is gorgeous and…wait, is she crying?

Beca swallows a lump in her throat as the woman shakes her head, lips pressed together. She takes a breath, gesturing vaguely in the direction of the closed apartment door. "I was up studying for my final tomorrow and went downstairs to get M&M's out of the vending machine because I was hungry but when I came back I realized I didn't have my key and the door must have locked behind me when I left and now I'm locked out and my roommate isn't answering the phone _or_ the door and now I'm stuck out here and _god,_ I'm in my pajamas! This is so ridiculous."

"Whoa, whoa! Breathe, dude." Beca takes a step towards the woman, reaching out to touch her arm lightly. The woman looks up at the ceiling; lips pressed together again as a fresh wave of tears threaten to start falling. "How about we just take a seat for a little bit, okay? Try and calm down. It'll be alright."

The woman nods and Beca offers a small smile as the two move to sit on the ground, backs up against the wall next to the locked apartment door.

"I'm so sorry. I'm a wreck this is so embarrassing."

"Hey! No, it's fine. If I were locked out of my apartment at 3am the night before my final I'd be a wreck too." She chuckles softly and reaches out to touch the woman's knee lightly. "Probably worse, actually. There'd probably be a noise complaint placed against me. I might even get arrested for public indecency or disruption or something."

She's only half joking, but the woman laughs softly and Beca feels her heart jump in her chest at the sound. Even hoarse after a small emotional breakdown the laughter resembles what Beca imagines angels to sound like. It's such a sappy comparison, but it's 3am so she doesn't particularly care.

"Speaking of 3am. What are you doing out at this hour?"

Beca turns her head slightly. The woman had leant her head back and was looking at Beca with such an intense gaze she had to blink a few times to regain her composure. The tears had dried, leaving the woman's blue eyes glistening. They were actually glistening and Beca didn't think that it should be legal for eyes like that to legitimately _glisten_. Who even looks that good after an emotional breakdown?

(This lady does, apparently. And it's totally not fair)

"I'm a DJ." She finally says, "The club I work at closes at two but I get out closer to two-thirty. Plus, I walk home so that adds a good twenty minutes. Add in my lazy ass dawdling up the stairs and you get a three AM arrival time at case de Beca."

She laughs to herself and wipes her hands on her jeans, suddenly feeling incredibly aware of all her limbs and feeling sufficiently awkward because of it. It didn't help that the woman was still looking at her with those blue eyes and Beca didn't know what to do with herself.

"Beca. That's your name?" Beca nods, and the woman smiles. "I'm Chloe."

"Hi, Chloe."

It's a terrible response, and Beca feels herself blush but the woman – _Chloe_ – laughs and it eases the embarrassment a touch.

They sit in silence. It's not entirely uncomfortable, but Beca is acutely aware of the silence and the uncomfortable feeling grows in the pit of her stomach.

"I should call someone," Chloe says finally, looking at her phone and frowning. "I don't think I'm getting into my apartment anytime soon."

"You could stay with me."

The words are out before Beca can think, and she clamps her mouth shut as Chloe turns to look at her, confusion written all over her face.

"I mean," Beca swallows and looks anywhere but Chloe, "It's late. And, you don't want to disturb anyone and I'm awake already and literally live one floor up so if you want you can stay. My roommate is away anyway so I have a spare bed. Or you can take the couch, if you prefer. Its uh, it's up to you."

She squeezes her eyes shut and forces herself to stop talking, feeling the blush spread from her cheeks down her neck.

"I'd like that."

Chloe is smiling softly at her, and Beca's eyes widen because she was not expecting that. She was expecting something more along the lines of _'we just met, you weirdo why would I stay with you? I don't even know you!'_ or maybe even a call to the cops to arrest her for…something. But now Chloe was staring at her again and Beca realized she needed to say something.

"Cool."

She shut her eyes again. Apparently words were not her forte at three in the morning, but then Chloe is grasping her hand and helping her stand and Beca ducks her head, laughing quietly.

"Come on, then."


End file.
